TweakHound - Installing And Tweaking Windows Vista, Services

Part of Tweaking And Installing Windows Vista

Windows Vista Services Guide

No plagiarism please.

1 - BACKUP your computer BEFORE you mess with the services.
2 - Changing the status of a service that doesn't start Automatically anyway does nothing for you performance wise.
i.e. - If XYZ service doesn't start when you start your computer, what good does it do to disable it? You risk a loss of functionality down the road and you've gained nothing as far as performance is concerned. However, there are some things that may pose a security risk and I've highlighted that below.

3 - The recommendations are specifically NOT for computers that are involved in any way with a Domain or Corporate network. It is entirely up to you to evaluate each and every change you make. For instance let us look at the Secondary Logon service. A quick bit of research will show that you need this enabled if you have standard user accounts. And how about the DFS Replication service? It is a Windows Vista program that can be uninstalled, removing the entry from the services menu altogether. Bottom line is, know what you are disabling before you disable it.

4 - The table below contains the Vista Default Services Settings for you to reference.

These were taken from Windows Vista Ultimate Edition which means it will list more services than other versions.

If you don't see it listed in your services don't stress out, you don't have it.

5 - Needed For? - This column is a short & sweet description of why it's there, or what you'll lose if you disable it.

If it doesn't apply to a home network I'll simply list Corporate.

6 - I've provided my recommendations towards the bottom of this page. I've divided them into specific categories, be mindful of them.

TweakHound's Vista Services Recommendations (click here for faster access)

TweakHound - Vista Services Guide
Name	Default Startup Type	Needed For ?
Application Experience	Automatic	Enables 3rd party apps to run / run correctly in Vista.
Application Information	Manual	"Run as" admin
Application Layer Gateway Service	Manual	ICS
Application Management	Manual	Corporate
Background Intelligent Transfer Service	Automatic (Delayed Start)	Windows Update
Base Filtering Engine	Automatic	Firewall, ICS, others
Block Level Backup Engine Service	Manual	I've no clue what this really does, can't find anything that uses it, can't find any documentation on it.
Certificate Propagation	Manual	Smart Cards
CNG Key Isolation	Manual	Encryption
COM+ Event System	Automatic	lots of essential services
COM+ System Application	Manual	see above
Computer Browser	Automatic	keeps a list of active computers on your net, it is not needed for browsing the net but can make it snappier.
Cryptographic Services	Automatic	lots of essential services
DCOM Server Process Launcher	Automatic	lots of essential services
Desktop Window Manager Session Manager	Automatic	Aero theme
DFS Replication	Manual	Corporate
DHCP Client	Automatic	Internet, Network
Diagnostic Policy Service	Automatic	Problem solving
Diagnostic Service Host	Manual	Problem solving
Diagnostic System Host	Manual	Problem solving
Distributed Link Tracking Client	Automatic	Corporate (usually)
Distributed Transaction Coordinator	Manual	Corporate
DNS Client	Automatic	Internet, Network
Extensible Authentication Protocol	Manual	WiFi, VPN's
Fax	Manual	Faxing
Function Discovery Provider Host	Manual	External networked devices
Function Discovery Resource Publication	Automatic	others can see what you got (see above)
Group Policy Client	Automatic	lots of essential services
Health Key and Certificate Management	Manual	Encryption
Human Interface Device Access	Manual	some keyboards, remotes (leave as is)
IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules	Automatic	Corporate
Interactive Services Detection	Manual	answer system event pop-ups
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)	Disabled	just buy a router already
IP Helper	Automatic	IPv6
IPsec Policy Agent	Automatic	Corporate
KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator	Automatic (Delayed Start)	databases
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper	Manual	pretty little network map
Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v2.0.50727_X86	Manual	.Net
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service	Manual	Corporate
Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider	Manual	backups
Multimedia Class Scheduler	Automatic	allows multimedia apps to snag more resources
Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service	Disabled	allows .net apps to share ports
Netlogon	Manual	Corporate
Network Access Protection Agent	Manual	Corporate
Network Connections	Manual	Internet, Network
Network List Service	Automatic	Internet, Network
Network Location Awareness	Automatic	Internet, Network
Network Store Interface Service	Automatic	Internet, Network
Offline Files	Automatic	Corporate (usually)
Parental Controls	Manual	Keeping the rug rats away from bad things
Peer Name Resolution Protocol	Manual	Corporate
Peer Networking Grouping	Manual	Corporate
Peer Networking Identity Manager	Manual	Corporate
Performance Logs & Alerts	Manual	perfmon
Plug and Play	Automatic	what it says
PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator	Manual	External networked devices
PNRP Machine Name Publication Service	Manual	Corporate
Portable Device Enumerator Service	Automatic	restricts use of things like ipods
Print Spooler	Automatic	Printing
Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel Support	Manual	lookup what went wrong
Program Compatibility Assistant Service	Automatic	"compatibility mode"
Protected Storage	Manual	saved passwords
Quality Windows Audio Video Experience	Manual	QOS for home networks
ReadyBoost	Automatic	speeds caching you'll need yet more hardware
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager	Manual	allows apps to connect to the net
Remote Access Connection Manager	Manual	Internet, Network
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	Automatic	lots of essential services
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator	Manual	Corporate
Remote Registry	Manual	huge security risk
Routing and Remote Access	Disabled	Corporate
Secondary Logon	Automatic	allows "Run as" admin
Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol Service	Manual	VPN protocol
Security Accounts Manager	Automatic	stores passwords, GPE settings, etc
Security Center	Automatic (Delayed Start)	Protects noobs from themselves
Server	Automatic	Alows sharing of files
Shell Hardware Detection	Automatic	Autoplay
SL UI Notification Service	Manual	MS anti-piracy garbage
Smart Card	Manual	what it says
Smart Card Removal Policy	Manual	allows computer to be locked on card removal
SNMP Trap	Manual	Corporate (usually)
Software Licensing	Automatic	MS anti-piracy garbage
SSDP Discovery	Manual	allows discovery of UPnP devices, security risk
Superfetch	Automatic	monitors and preloads the stuff you use the most making your overall computing faster
System Event Notification Service	Automatic	tracks system events and notifies apps of them
Tablet PC Input Service	Automatic	"pen and ink" functionality
Task Scheduler	Automatic	what it says
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper	Automatic	TCP/IP NetBIOS is a networking protocol. The default for Windows peer-to-peer networks is to use this protocol for sharing. However it is possible (and recommended for the security minded) to disable this service and still have sharing on your network). This requires a little extra configuration on your part. See Petri & Microsoft For those who use Linux and Samba, disabling this may cause problems.
Telephony	Manual	Are you still using a modem?
Terminal Services	Automatic	This is said to be a security risk. Allows you to connect to another machine as if it were your own. Remote Desktop, and Windows Media Extender require this.
Terminal Services Configuration	Manual	see above
Terminal Services UserMode Port Redirector	Manual	see above, above :-)
Themes	Automatic	Gives your desktop the pretty colors
Thread Ordering Server	Manual	allows multi-threaded apps to do their thing
TPM Base Services	Manual	part of Vista's security, required for BitLocker
UPnP Device Host	Automatic	Said to be a security risk. Allows networking with devices that also use UPnP. Routers, some media players, X-box?
User Profile Service	Automatic	Loads your profile, some settings unique to you are there.
Virtual Disk	Manual	Got RAID? (other disk management too)
Volume Shadow Copy	Manual	backups
WebClient	Automatic	Connect to a WebDAV directory by adding the directory to the list of Network Places and display the contents as if it were part of the same file system on your local computer. (source)
Windows Audio	Automatic	what it says
Windows Audio Endpoint Builder	Automatic	see above
Windows Backup	Manual	what it says
Windows CardSpace	Manual	Support for digital ID (source)
Windows Color System	Manual	makes your colors look like they're supposed to (source)
Windows Connect Now - Config Registrar	Manual	this is a new one to me, see here
Windows Defender	Automatic	anti-spyware
Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework	Manual	allows your hardware to run correctly
Windows Error Reporting Service	Automatic	Allows MS to know they ruined your day, not that they care. real answer - reports errors to MS so, in theory they can find a fix. You on their payroll? I ain't.
Windows Event Collector	Manual	Can put errors for elsewhere in your event logs.
Windows Event Log	Automatic	Manages your event logs, Task Scheduler needs this.
Windows Firewall	Automatic	what it says
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)	Manual	gets pics from scanners and cameras
Windows Installer	Manual	what it says
Windows Management Instrumentation	Automatic	lots of essential services
Windows Media Center Extender Service	Disabled	Got one, need it
Windows Media Center Receiver Service	Manual	TV and radio
Windows Media Center Scheduler Service	Manual	record TV
Windows Media Center Service Launcher	Automatic (Delayed Start)	starts the above 2 if you got a TV card
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service	Manual	for playing your music / videos on other PC's, see the sharing section in WMP options
Windows Modules Installer	Manual	"Enables installation, modification, and removal of Windows updates and optional components"
Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0	Manual	caches fonts for .Net 3.0 apps
Windows Remote Management (WS-Management)	Manual	Corporate (should be safe to disable for the security minded)
Windows Search	Automatic	Resource hogging, annoying little... ahem, the old Indexing service on steroids. Learn to organize your data and ditch this thing.
Windows Time	Automatic	Keeps your computers time correct
Windows Update	Automatic (Delayed Start)	what it says
WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service	Manual	Corporate
Wired AutoConfig	Manual	Corporate (usually) 802.1X authentication
WLAN AutoConfig	Manual	allows Windows to detect the available wireless networks and automatically connect to the most preferred wireless network (source)
WMI Performance Adapter	Manual	collects performance data
Workstation	Automatic	lots of networking services

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